What I’m Into, November 2019

November was an incredible month to be a Memphian! Read all about it in a minute.

Reading

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (4 stars) – A young woman moves to NYC in 1940 to live with her aunt, who owns a rundown theater. It’s just as juicy and escapist as everyone says, if tough to read at a few points.

The Final Six by Alexandra Monir (4 stars) – I was pleasantly surprised by this Kindle deal of the day. Set in a near future when climate change has taken full effect, it’s about teenagers drafted from around the world for a colonizing mission to Europa – sort of an apocalyptic Space Camp.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (3.5 stars) – Some sequels can be fully enjoyed without having read the first book. This is not one of them. If you haven’t read and loved Carry On, you won’t get it. However, I liked it and will definitely read the final installment.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff by Dana K. White (3 stars) – A repetitive, but straightforward and realistic, guide to decluttering for those of us who don’t have the capacity for a full Marie Kondo.

Watching

This month’s elliptical movies were A Wrinkle in Time, Dumplin’, and Set It Up (loved the first two, the last was just okay). At home, Taylor and I started The Leftovers, which he’s already seen. I’m eager to make progress with it, but the episodes are long, we watch at night, and I keep falling asleep!

We also finally finished our Office rewatch. I’ve voted we move on either to Parks & Rec or Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Around Town

On November 2, ESPN College GameDay came to Memphis for the first time, and Taylor and I were there! We got to Beale Street at 7 am and stayed until the show was over at 11. By the end, we had made it into the pit behind the stage. It was such an exciting experience and one of the best-attended GameDays ever.

We went home and rested for a while before the actual football game against SMU, which our parents also attended. The Tigers won 54-48!!

Here’s an excellent 5-minute recap of the whole day!

Taylor and I have been talking about acting like tourists in our own city since we met. So this month we did a staycation to celebrate his birthday! We stayed at the brand-new Curio Central Station hotel, which is downtown on South Main in the old Amtrak station (there’s still a functioning train station in the building). Our room was comfortable and nicely appointed, and I was very impressed by the creative branding and design. The lobby bar has a curated collection of Memphis vinyl.

On Saturday, we took a historic walking tour and a walking ghost tour with Backbeat Tours. Both were great. In between tours, we went to the Tiger basketball game as we would normally do. :) We also stopped at the soda fountain at A. Schwab’s on Beale Street, which has fantastic milkshakes and sundaes! We had brunch Saturday morning at the Arcade (a classic) and Sunday morning at Third & Court, a fairly new place near the courthouse. All in all, a great staycation.

Eating

I hosted one of my book clubs this month, and made a tried and true pumpkin pie dip for our snack (basically this recipe halved, with a couple of Splenda or stevia packets instead of 2 cups of sugar, and I heat it in a Crock-Pot Little Dipper). It goes great with apples, pretzels, gingersnaps, and any kind of graham crackers or sticks. We had all of the above.

My friend James cooked the best, prettiest non-fried turkey I’ve ever eaten for our group’s Friendsgiving. He said it was a Martha Stewart recipe. We all posted about it and tagged Martha, but so far her team has not responded.

Wearing

For most of the aughts, I was ALL ABOUT New York & Company. Around the time I turned 30, they must have gotten a new buyer, because the aesthetic and quality changed completely. I haven’t shopped there in years. Taylor and I were at the mall this month and noticed their NY&Co location is closing and everything was 80% off. I found a crisscross striped sweater in navy (similar to this one) that I’ve already worn several times, and a puffy quilted vest in blush pink to go with my new quilted blush pink sneakers. I have rarely been interested in quilted or pink anything. You never know what will suddenly make you happy.

Beauty

I’ve been experimenting with skipping eyeshadow in favor of simple black eyeliner and a lot of mascara. It saves time and creates a mod look that I’m kind of into.

Random Happiness

I’ve been enjoying all the fall trees!

My 2011 MacBook Pro has been struggling for at least a year – it’s extremely slow and I couldn’t take it off the charger anymore. This month, it died completely. I knew the Apple Store wouldn’t help me, and it’s not a great time financially for me to drop two Gs on a new laptop. I took it to iFix as a last resort. They ordered me a new charger, changed the battery, and now I have a functioning computer again! FYI, despite what Apple will tell you, old computers can still be fixed as long as the parts are available. I’m thankful for any time this has bought me.

Your Monthly Rufus